Tuesday Afternoon & Evening — ST ANN CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Tonight’s activities began with Mass and a delicious dinner. Our dinner prayer was ENTHUSIASTICALLY led by all of our teens who are The Pines Catholic Camp campers or alumni! They taught us the “Johnny Appleseed” grace, and everyone loved singing along. During free time, we played cards, Spikeball, and Spot-It, and we made lots of rosaries and friendship bracelets. Some teens and Core members even braved more of the heat to play basketball!

After getting cleaned up and gathering for the evening session, JP hosted a fantastic game of Family Feud. Small groups racked up points and LOVED having their construction dads help them come up with answers!

View all pictures from tuesday activities

Our speaker tonight was Mary Mahaffey, who is on the youth ministry staff. She began with her central message:

“All Jesus wants you to know is that you are loved.”

Mary shared with us about who she is and how the Lord has shaped her identity. Continuing the talk from Monday night, she shared that a lie that often surfaces for her is, “I don’t belong.” Can any of us relate to that? A feeling that we don’t quite fit in at our job, with our friends, in our family, in leadership, and so much more.

We heard about the woman at the well, who came to draw water in the middle of the day because she felt like she didn’t belong with the rest of her community. Jesus meets her and reveals to her that He knows who she is — and that He wants her to know who He is.

Knowing who we are and that we are loved is the greatest desire of our hearts.

God sees our goodness, not the lies we tell ourselves. In knowing Him, we can see who we are — and are supposed to be.

Mary closed with three practical ways to experience this kind of intimate and enlightening grace with the Lord:

Sit with Jesus. Be with Him and let Him speak truth over you. He will fight for you where you struggle. To really believe Truth, we need to be where we can hear Truth.
Lean in when He speaks. It’s important that we hold on to the Truth that is revealed to us. The woman at the well “leaned in” as she ran to her community to tell them Who she had met. Sometimes, we need to walk in the Truth until it feels familiar and real.
Write it down. You get to know His voice by writing it down and keeping track of the words you hear so you can see patterns of what the Lord is speaking to you. God works through many things: people from all areas of your life, words, Scripture, song lyrics, and situations. Noticing and writing it down helps us to see it as His real presence.

After time with our small groups to discuss the day and the talk, we came together for an evening of worship and adoration of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Father Samuel processed the monstrance holding our Lord to each person in the room, giving them a special opportunity to be intimately near to Him for a few moments.

It was a profound and moving experience — and the Holy Spirit’s presence was palpable in the room. As we closed, the teens pulled into tight circles, arm in arm. It was an unprompted moment that made this large group feel a lot like family! We are so grateful for this time away together.